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I'm yet another person who is happy with the results from following the guidance in this book. I think that it's clearly true that this "diet" (it is not really a diet per se) is working for a whole lot of people, and also that there are some people for whom it is not working.
It's unlikely that tons and tons of people are all experiencing a similar psychological effect. It's possible, but if that were true, I'd expect that some other fad would have been able to produce a similar widespread effect long ago. And if it is true, then so much the better, and the people who can't reproduce the effect, should move on, and appreciate that it does seem to work for many.
I also think the theory behind why the "diet" works is interesting, but not completely validated. That is, while it seems to work, perhaps the reasons why are wrong (more likely, that the theory isn't totally complete). I think they make intuitive sense, but it may be there's some other factor that differentiates some people, and makes the core idea not work for them.
But I think the most common reason for this not working is probably due to misunderstanding the idea. I've seen the same few mistakes made over and over:
1) Not understanding the diet, and not following it properly. When it passes by word of mouth, for example, many people will try extra-virgin olive oil instead of extra-light olive oil (ELOO).
2) If you're already on a diet, and go off that diet when you start this one (or relax your old diet in any way), you can pretty much guarantee you're going to gain weight, at least in the short term, because your caloric intake is likely to skyrocket, even w/ the appetite control from the ELOO / sugar water. That's what you get when you start eating a lot more junk than you're used to.
3) Shangri-La will make you less hungry, but it is ultimately up to you to eat less. It's clear in the book that you still need to restrict your caloric intake, it's just that the ELOO / sugar water, when used properly, can help on the appetite, making it easy to self-restrict your caloric intake. If you have some psychological need to always eat what's in front of you, even when you're full, then you may not eat any less, and you won't lose any weight.
Personally, I do have a bit of a psychological tie to cleaning my plate, especially since I paid for the food and want to get my money's worth. I'm working on that, but what I've tried to do is make sure that I put less food in front of myself to begin with. For example, there's a pizza place a few blocks from me that sells pizza by the slice. When I first started the diet, I'd get two pieces, and would end up hungry pretty soon after. A week after starting the diet, I went into the pizza place. I decided to eat one slice, and then only get the second slice if I was still hungry. I wasn't, so I left, and didn't get hungry again the rest of the day. If I'd have ordered two slices, as normal, I still would have eaten the second slice, and never would have restricted my caloric intake on the meal.
I'm still working on this. But I have found that within a week, I was able to reduce my calories by half from before starting the diet, without any real hunger discomfort (certainly, when I get hungry I eat). That doesn't mean I always take in half as many calories, mainly because there's still the psychological aspect of cleaning my plate! I've had meals where I really wasn't hungry at all a couple of bites into the meal, but I still kept eating, because I'd paid for the food...
All in all, I'm aware of this issue, and I'm still keeping the calories down, and losing weight, totally without hunger. I think I've got room for improvement, but it is coming down to concious choices. I think I'm appealing to my desire to get the most for my money by trying to order less. For example, I can now generally either eat an appetizer or an entree... I don't need both. I just pick the thing that looks best.
Hope this helps.
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About the author
Dangerous Advice
I bought this book many years ago. The recommendation to drink sugar water to suppress your hunger so that you eat less and consequently improve your health is not just pathetic but plain dangerous.I was going to take this book along with other books I don't want to Goodwill. Instead, it is going to trash.
Top reviews from other countries
Camperin
ganz interessant - muß man aber nicht haben
Reviewed in Germany on July 30, 2012
A. J. Laing
Not sure how it works but it does
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 20, 2011
